Baker man sentenced in DA threat case

Baker man sentenced in DA threat case

A 22-year-old Baker man was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for making threats against East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III and others during the murder trial of rapper Torence “Lil Boosie” Hatch last year.

Dedrick Deandre Green, who pleaded guilty in March to public intimidation, must begin serving his time Wednesday, state District Judge Richard Anderson said.

Green will be on active supervised probation for three years following his release from prison. He also must undergo a mental health evaluation, complete an anger management course, submit to random drug testing and possess no firearms, the judge said.

An affidavit of probable cause says Green posted the following message on the social network site Twitter on May 5, 2012: “I got a sniper rifle for Hillar Moore when he walk out the courthouse.” Green also wrote the same day that Hatch should be freed before Green shoots the “court house up,” deputies said.

“Any time someone threatens a public official and threatens to shoot up a courthouse, it’s something that has to be addressed in a very serious manner,” Assistant State Attorney General Kurt Wall said outside the courtroom. Wall called Anderson’s reasoning “very sound.”

“Dedrick understands this is part of accepting responsibility, without excuse,” Green’s attorney Chris Alexander said. “We’ll see good things from Dedrick in the future.”

Anderson said Green cannot have a Twitter account while on probation.

Both Twitter posts were written under the username “Dixie Goon225,” which detectives said they determined to be Green through an investigation and by comparing Green’s profile photo to his driver’s license.

East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested Green on May 7, 2012, after finding him in state District Judge Mike Erwin’s courtroom watching Hatch’s first-degree murder trial, which was being conducted under heavy security even before the threats were made.

Green admitted posting the messages but said he was just “fooling around,” the affidavit states.

Hatch, of Baton Rouge, was acquitted May 11, 2012. Hatch is imprisoned on drug charges.

Anderson, who said no weapons were found in Green’s residence or in a car that was searched, noted that Green has been arrested several times for resisting arrest, public intimidation and drugs.

“Intimidation and drugs seem to be a common theme,” the judge said, adding that Green appears to want to live “a thug’s life.”

“You’re not that bad of a guy, but this is really stupid,” Anderson told him. “You just keep doing the same thing. I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”

Anderson, who said Green has received some drug treatment in the past, sentenced Green to five years in prison but suspended three of those years.

Green did not speak at his sentencing. He told probation officers he understands he made a terrible mistake but never intended to harm anyone, the judge said.

Moore wrote to probation officers that Green’s threats were a concern to Moore and his children, Anderson said. The district attorney added that Green’s behavior was unacceptable and warranted some prison time.